D.C. Councilmember Trayon White Apologizes for Anti-Semitic Comments

After snow flurries briefly coated the Washington Metropolitan Area on the morning of Friday, March 16, Councilmember Trayon White (D-8), took to Facebook Live to reference the wealthy, Jewish, Rothschild family, as the blame for the unseasonably wintry weather.

D.C. Councilmember Trayon White said that the Rothschild family was responsible for controlling the weather. (Courtesy photo)

“Man it just started snowing out of nowhere this morning, man. Y’all better pay attention to this climate control, man, this climate manipulation,” White said in the video, which has since been removed. “And D.C. keep talking about, ‘We a resilient city.’ And that’s a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate,” he said.

Since his Friday post, White has received a lot of backlash criticizing his remarks against the famous Jewish family.

“This kind of anti-Semitism is unacceptable in any public official. This so diminishes what America is about and adds to the oppressive feeling going on in the country right now,” Rabbi Daniel Zemel of Temple Micah told the Washington Post. “We all have to be better. Public officials have to learn not to say the first ignorant thing that comes into their head.”

“I work hard everyday to combat racism and prejudices of all kind. I want to apologize to the Jewish Community and anyone I have offended. The Jewish community [has] been allies with me in my journey to help people. I did not intend on being Anti-Semitic, and I see I should not have said that after learning from my colleagues,” White wrote.

White spoke with representatives from Jews United for Justice who, he said, was helping him, “understand the history of the comments made against Jews.”

Jews United for Justice wrote in a tweet about their conversation with White Sunday night. “We look forward to working with him toward deeper understanding of [anti-Semitism] and toward our collective liberation,” the organization wrote.

“I am committed to figuring out ways [to] continue to be allies with them and others,” White wrote.

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